It’s a new year! I guess that’s a good thing. I doubt– I hope– this year is one filled with better news. Find Convention City! Sort out the mess with Letty Lynton! Someone with some sense start cranking out the pre-Codes from the Fox and Universal vaults!

And while I always love screaming into the void (a big thank you to everyone not reading this), I would also like to take a moment for all that I’m grateful for in the last year. The wonderful First Women Filmmakers box set, releases of the Hal Roach Thelma Todd/Zasu Pitts/Patsy Kelly comedies, and, as always, Warner Archive for cranking out DVDs of studio obscurities from the Strictly Dishonorable double feature to the many films wherein Loretta Young goes through the ringer.

January on TCM has a lot of essential pre-Codes playing– why haven’t you watched Baby Face If you find anything good that I haven’t hit yet, feel free to hit me up over on Twitter.yet?!– plus a smattering of obscurities. The two big red-letter days are the Marion Davies tribute on the 3rd and a day of pre-Code gangster hijinks on the 14th.

A friendly reminder: if you want to support my site, you can become a patron over at Patreon. Cheers!

Pre-Code Movies on TCM in January

Please note:

All times listed here are Eastern Standard. This schedule is subject to change (like if someone dies or the world ends– you know how it is).
Plot descriptions and casts lists below come from TCM. See the full listings for the month here.
If you subscribe to TCM via cable, you can watch TCM online via the TCM Watch site.
If you don’t have cable, check out Sling TV, where (Americans) can watch TCM online, via an app or on their Roku.

Date & Time	Film
1st 6:15 PM	Twentieth Century (1934)
	A tempestuous theatrical director tries to win back the star he created and then drove away. Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: John Barrymore , Carole Lombard , Walter Connolly . BW- 91 mins, CC,
2nd 7:45 AM	Arsene Lupin (1932)
	A gentleman thief risks his life in an attempt to steal the Mona Lisa. Dir: Jack Conway Cast: John Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Karen Morley . BW- 84 mins, CC,
2nd 12:45 PM	Possessed (1931)
	A factory girl rises to the top as mistress of a tycoon, then falls in love. Dir: Clarence Brown Cast: Joan Crawford , Clark Gable , Wallace Ford . BW- 76 mins, CC,
3rd 10:30 AM	The Bachelor Father ( 1931)
	An aging Don Juan decides to get better acquainted with his grown children. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard Cast: Marion Davies , Ralph Forbes , C. Aubrey Smith . BW- 90 mins, CC,
3rd 12:15 PM	Going Hollywood (1933)
	A girl poses as a French maid to catch a singing star. Dir: Raoul Walsh Cast: Marion Davies , Bing Crosby , Fifi D’Orsay . BW- 78 mins, CC,
3rd 3:30 PM	Not So Dumb (1930)
	A scatterbrained miss throws a big party to advance her boyfriend’s career. Dir: King Vidor Cast: Marion Davies , Elliott Nugent , Raymond Hackett . BW- 76 mins, CC,
3rd 5:00 PM	Florodora Girl, The (1930)
	A turn-of-the-century chorus girl searches for romance. Dir: Harry Beaumont Cast: Marion Davies , Lawrence Gray , Walter Catlett . BW- 79 mins, CC,
3rd 6:30 PM	Peg O’ My Heart (1933)
	A spunky Irish girl inherits a place in a British estate. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard Cast: Marion Davies , Onslow Stevens , J. Farrell MacDonald . BW- 87 mins, CC,
5th 8:29 AM	Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
	A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw’s life when he’s falsely accused of a crime. Dir: Mack V. Wright Cast: John Wayne , Duke , Henry B. Walthall . BW- 58 mins, CC,
6th 6:00 AM	Lady For A Day (1933)
	A gangster helps an old apple-vendor pose as a society woman to fool her visiting daughter. Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Warren William , May Robson , Guy Kibbee . BW- 96 mins, CC,
7th 6:00 AM	Morning Glory (1933)
	A stage struck girl travels to New York determined to make it on Broadway. Dir: Lowell Sherman Cast: Katharine Hepburn , Douglas Fairbanks , Adolphe Menjou . BW- 74 mins, CC,
7th 8:00 PM	“The Music Box” (1932)
	Two men running a moving company have to get a large piano up a daunting flight of stairs in this comedic short film. Dir: James Parrott Cast: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Lilyan Irene . BW- 29 mins, CC,
7th 8:45 PM	Busy Bodies (1933)
	In this short film, Laurel and Hardy wage battle with inanimate objects, their co-workers, and the laws of physics during a routine work day at a sawmill. Dir: Lloyd French Cast: Charley Young , Dick Gilbert , Tiny Sandford . BW- 19 mins, CC,
7th 1:45 AM	Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
	Two World War I veterans try help a comrade’s orphaned daughter find her family. Dir: George Marshall Cast: Stan Laurel , Oliver Hardy , Donald Dillaway . BW- 68 mins,
9th 6:15 AM	Sagebrush Trail (1933)
	A man, wrongly imprisoned for murder, escapes to track down the real killer. Dir: Armand Schaefer Cast: John Wayne , Nancy Shubert , Lane Chandler . BW- 53 mins,
9th 6:30 PM	The Big House (1930)
	An attempted prison break leads to a riot. Dir: George Hill Cast: Chester Morris , Wallace Beery , Lewis Stone . BW- 87 mins, CC,
11th 6:00 AM	One Way Passage (1932)
	An ocean voyage leads to romance for a dying heiress and a condemned criminal. Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: William Powell , Kay Francis , Aline MacMahon . BW- 68 mins, CC,
12th 8:29 AM	The Man From Monterey (1933)
	A U.S. Cavalry officer tries to protect Spanish landowners in California. Dir: Mack V. Wright Cast: John Wayne , Duke , Ruth Hall . BW- 57 mins, CC,
13th 12:00 PM	A Farewell To Arms (1932)
	An American serving in World War I falls for a spirited nurse. Dir: Frank Borzage Cast: Helen Hayes , Gary Cooper , Adolphe Menjou . BW- 89 mins, CC,
14th 6:00 AM	Emergency Call ( 1933)
	A promising surgeon discovers his hospital is run by gangsters. Dir: Edward Cahn Cast: Bill Boyd , Wynne Gibson , William Gargan . BW- 61 mins,
14th 7:15 AM	The Beast of the City (1932)
	A police captain leads the fight against a vicious gangland chief. Dir: Charles Brabin Cast: Walter Huston , Jean Harlow , Wallace Ford . BW- 86 mins, CC,
14th 8:45 AM	The Doorway to Hell (1930)
	Despite his efforts to go straight, a young gangster keeps falling back into crime. Dir: Archie Mayo Cast: Lew Ayres , Charles Judels , Dorothy Mathews . BW- 78 mins, CC,
14th 10:15 AM	Midnight Mary (1933)
	An abused orphan sinks into a life of crime. Dir: William Wellman Cast: Loretta Young , Ricardo Cortez , Franchot Tone . BW- 74 mins, CC,
14th 11:45 AM	Framed (1930)
	A nightclub hostess seeks revenge against a police inspector, yet falls in love with his son. Dir: George Archainbaud Cast: Evelyn Brent , Regis Toomey , Ralf Harolde . BW- 65 mins, CC,
14th 1:00 PM	The Fall Guy (1930)
	An unemployed druggist gets mixed up with gangsters. Dir: A. Leslie Pearce Cast: Jack Mulhall , Mae Clarke , Ned Sparks . BW- 66 mins, CC,
14th 2:15 PM	Fog Over Frisco (1934)
	A San Francisco heiress discovers her sister is hanging out with gangsters. Dir: William Dieterle Cast: Bette Davis , Donald Woods , Margaret Lindsay . BW- 68 mins, CC,
14th 3:30 PM	The Finger Points (1931)
	A naive reporter takes payoffs for keeping a prominent gangster out of the papers. Dir: John Francis Dillon Cast: Richard Barthelmess , Fay Wray , Regis Toomey . BW- 85 mins, CC,
14th 5:00 PM	The Public Enemy (1931)
	An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime. Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: James Cagney , Jean Harlow , Edward Woods . BW- 84 mins, CC,
14th 6:30 PM	Smart Money (1931)
	A barber’s good luck turns him into a big-time gambling boss. Dir: Alfred E. Green Cast: Edward G. Robinson , James Cagney , Evalyn Knapp . BW- 81 mins, CC,
16th 7:15 AM	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
	Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a scientist who unleashes the beast within. Dir: Rouben Mamoulian Cast: Fredric March , Miriam Hopkins , Rose Hobart . BW- 96 mins, CC,
17th 6:30 PM	Arsene Lupin (1932)
	A gentleman thief risks his life in an attempt to steal the Mona Lisa. Dir: Jack Conway Cast: John Barrymore , Lionel Barrymore , Karen Morley . BW- 84 mins, CC,
24th 6:00 AM	New Moon (1930)
	A Russian lieutenant falls in love with a beautiful princess. Dir: Jack Conway Cast: Lawrence Tibbett , Grace Moore , Adolphe Menjou . BW- 78 mins, CC,
25th 11:45 PM	Baby Face (1933)
	A beautiful schemer sleeps her way to the top of a banking empire. Dir: Alfred E. Green Cast: Barbara Stanwyck , George Brent , Donald Cook . BW- 76 mins, CC,
29th 1:00 PM	The Merry Widow (1934)
	A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country. Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Maurice Chevalier , Jeanette MacDonald , Edward Everett Horton . BW- 99 mins, CC,
31st 7:15 AM	Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
	A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw’s life when he’s falsely accused of a crime. Dir: Mack V. Wright Cast: John Wayne , Duke , Henry B. Walthall . BW- 58 mins, CC,
31st 8:00 PM	What Price Hollywood? (1932)
	A drunken director whose career is fading helps a waitress become a Hollywood star. Dir: George Cukor Cast: Constance Bennett , Lowell Sherman , Neil Hamilton . BW- 88 mins, CC,